


Exfiltration

by NeitherNora



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 14:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeitherNora/pseuds/NeitherNora
Summary: Barlo Harik and Avender Greevs always seem to end up in the most stressful situations.





	Exfiltration

**Author's Note:**

> These characters were invented by my partner and I while playing a game of Star Wars Battlefront to give context to the Survival game mode. Barlo and Avender, in my heart, would be played by Hasan Minhaj and Rinko Kikuchi, respectively.

"Well that's just great!" Barlo shouted over a flurry of crimson blasterfire. The Imperial stormtroopers were closing in, stomping through the labyrinthine hallways of the BlasTech facility. He hefted the backpack containing their prize--a data-tape of schematics for an Imperial-funded weapons project-- and fired off a trio of shots in retort.

Avender ignored him, concentrating on opening the door before them. The sleek black hallways echoed with the squeal of blasterfire and the dull thuds of heavy footfalls. The electric lockpick spun into the door socket, a poor replacement for an astromech droid. What she wouldn't give for an astromech droid. After another few tense moments, the door slid open and she stood.

"Door's open, let's go."

He ducked, and a blaster bolt flew past his head and into the wall.

"Karabast, it's about time!" His voice had a tendency to get shrill when he was stressed.

"Less complaining and more running, please!"

They made their way down a hallway identical to the one they'd left. After a few twists and turns, it opened into a small side hangar. A pair of TIE fighters and a Lambda-class shttle were docked and looked ready for takeoff. Barlo barreled toward the shuttle, but Avender paused to look at the TIEs.

"Avender, come on!" he called from the boarding ramp.

She took aim with her blaster rifle, barely bothering to glance through her scope, and sank a few shots into the fighters' transparisteel windows. Cracks spread like spiderwebs from the scorchmarks.

"Just trying to cover our exit," she said over her commlink as she turned and started up the ramp after him. "Don't want to get blasted out of the sky, do you?"

He was already in the cockpit, flipping switches and slamming buttons.

"Gonna need a second to warm this thing up." His words echoed through the commlink. "Better take it for a spin around the system before we jump."

She knelt at the entrance to the shuttle and took aim again, blasting two stormtroopers as they rounded a corner into the hangar.

"Barlo, we don't have that kind of time!"

"Never enough time to do anything right," he muttered again. The ship gave a shudder as life pulsed through it. It lifted just as a trio of black-armored stormtroopers came into view, and the boarding ramp saved her life as it blocked their shots by closing.

She fell into the copilot seat and pulled it forward to better access the controls. With a few quick keystrokes, she plugged in the dummy coordinates for their first jump. Once they were out of the system, they'd scan the shuttle for bugs or tracking devices before jumping again to meet up with the fleet. An alert blared, and red lights flashed on her console. The two TIE fighters were airborne, and had their guns locked. The jump had to wait. First they had to make it off-planet.

The planet's atmosphere clung to them as they strained against its gravity. It wouldn't take the TIEs more than a few more seconds to come into firing range, and she knew better than to hope that the Imperials' aim was as poor in their ships as it had been with blaster rifles.

A few moments passed, and one of them sailed past their shuttle trailing a stream of broken glass. She allowed herself a brief moment of smugness. Then their ship shuddered, and the lights flickered above them as the other TIE strafed them. Thankfully Barlo'd gotten the shields up, so the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been, but another couple of runs and their luck would dry up.

Just as the TIE came around for another pass, a red light on the console switched to green and Barlo shoved a handle forward. The stars before them bled into streaks as they jumped, leaving the TIE behind.

Avender slumped back in the seat, and she saw Barlo do the same. In the light of the swirling blue vortex of hyperspace, they exchanged glances, then smiles, then laughter. It was exhausted and genuine, and laced with relief.

They didn't have the energy for congratulations or apologies, but neither expected them. There was just the two of them and the void.

That's all either of them needed to feel alive.


End file.
